End Game
by pikapikatchu
Summary: Showdown with the people involved in the attacks against the CSIs and police. Who will win? Will all the CSIs get through it alive? Will the bad guys get caught or will the game continue?
1. Chapter 1

This story follows up on my other stories. Please read the other two before you start reading this one or else you might be a little confused what's going on :) thanks

You can find it at my profile or here:

first story: _"A day at the video rental store"_

**.net/s/6502149/1/A_day_at_the_video_rental_store **

second story: _"An eye for an eye"_

**.net/s/6506034/1/An_Eye_For_An_Eye **

third story: _"Boom"_

**.net/s/6516243/1/Boom**

fourth story: _"The game is on"_

**.net/s/6773108/1/The_Game_Is_On**

fifth story: "Nexus"

**.net/s/6776115/1/Nexus**

sixth story: _"Wanna Play?"_

**.net/s/6868721/1/Wanna_Play**

(just put the fanfiction-url in front of the urls above and you're good to go. I can't publish it as a real link, I'm sorry!)

* * *

><p>Three days after the CSIs were trapped under a collapsed house, Nick was already back home and ready to get back to work. He was eager to work on the case, to help find the officers responsible for his injury. He almost couldn't bare staying at home for three days, although Catherine asked him to make it at least a week. He declined.<p>

Nick heard a knock on the door. "Coming!"

Opening the door, he found Greg standing there with a big smile on his face. "Hey buddy."

"What took you so long?" Nick said rather annoyed while grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

"Well, 'Thank you, Greg, for driving me to work.' You're welcome, Nicky!" Greg said sarcastically, but still with a smile on his face. "Didn't you enjoy the free time at all? Are you that much of a workaholic?"

"Look who's talking! You didn't even take one day off!" Nick went to Greg's car.

"Yeah but that's because my arm wasn't crushed underneath a house." Greg seemed to be in a good mood. Good enough to tease Nick.

Nick rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the lab, Nick was greeted with hugs and handshakes from his colleagues. Even Julian gave Nick an appreciative nod when he saw him.<p>

"Reed sends her greetings," Ray said, smiling at Nick.

Catherine joined the hug-fest. "Wow, three days. I'm proud. We were betting on how many days you'd take off. I had two." She went over to give him a hug. "But don't think you'll get out much, Nicky. You're on lab duty for the next few days."

"Come on, Catherine. I can handle it. I'm fine." Nick tried to convince her to let him get out in the field. He couldn't catch the bad guys from inside a lab, he thought.

"We've all been there, Nick. Just suck it up and try to get the best out of it." Greg padded his friend on the shoulder.

"Oh yeah, and that would be?"

"You can try to find where Julian's patience ends. It's a fun game, try it. The only rule is to annoy Julian as much as possible!" Greg finished his sentence while walking off. He really was in an exceptionally good mood. Everyone seeing it was surprised. It's been a long time since they saw that side of Greg, and it felt really good to see it again.

"Alright," Nick turned to Catherine. "Lab duty, it is. But only for the next two days!"

"Two days? We'll see about that."

"Come on, Catherine, you wanted me to take a week off. I've been home for three days, another two days make the week complete." Nick was almost begging.

"Most weeks have seven days, Nicky." Seeing his begging face, Catherine finally gave in. "Okay..." she sighed, "But don't play the hero. If you don't feel good, you can stay in the lab for as long as you want to."

* * *

><p>Sara walked pass the lab Nick was working in. Seeing him in a lab coat, processing some evidence, she stopped. It wasn't unusual to see Nick doing some lab work, but he was in the DNA lab processing DNA evidence and the CSIs usually didn't. They weren't trained to do that.<p>

"Hey." Sara walked into the lab. "What are you doing here?"

Nick smiled at her. "I'm back at work. I can't sit around all day and do nothing, you know."

"Yeah, I figured. I meant, what are you doing in the DNA lab?"

"I'm glad someone finally asks! Is it really too much to ask for to be alone in my own lab?" Julian chimed in, all annoyed.

"Why don't you take your coffee for a walk, Julian?" Sara asked annoyed.

After Julian left completely outraged, Sara continued. "Are you even allowed doing this? Since when are you our new lab tech?"

"Relax, Sara. I'm just assisting Julian, I'm not processing anything on my own. Nobody hates this more than I do, but there's nothing else to do for me right now."

"Maybe because you should be at home, getting better."

"Oh come on, Sara! When was the last time YOU took some time off?" Nick was getting quite offended. He wasn't even sure why, but he wasn't in the mood for any lectures.

"This is not about me, Nick. You've gone through some heavy stuff in the last weeks. I've noticed how easily irritated you get. I really think you need some rest." Sara tried to stay as calm as possible, despite Nick's attempts of making this personal. She only wanted to help him.

"I know when I need some rest. I feel fine. Why don't you mind your own damn business?" Nick stormed off. He was kind of confused. Why did he lash out on Sara like that? He knows she only means well, why was he that irritated by her?

Storming out of the lab, he bumped into Greg.

"Dammit!" Greg dropped a bunch of files. He bended over to start collecting the papers he just dropped. "Sorry, Nick, I didn't see... you." All he could see was Nick walking away.

"I'm sorry, Greg..." Sara came out of the lab to help him pick up the papers.

* * *

><p>"Hey." Greg walked over to Nick who was sitting at a light table doing nothing, but looking kind of lost in his thoughts. "I just come from a crime scene, could you help me with the evidence?"<p>

"What did you collect?" Nick asked in a calm way and with an apathetic tone in his voice.

"Shoe prints, fingerprints, swabbed some blood and... a lot of possible murder weapons." Greg put all bags on the table. He collected a bunch of objects that could be the murder weapon of his stabbing victim, and it was his job to find out if one of these objects really was used to kill.

"What do you want me to start with?" Nick sounded like he wasn't having a good day and it was impossible for Greg not to notice the state his friend was in.

"Well, for starters you could tell me what happened between you and Sara."

Nick looked up to Greg. He was surprised he knew about it. But then he wondered why he was surprised about that. Greg and Sara were really close, she probably told him.

"Did you even notice that you bumped into me earlier?"

"...What?" Nick was confused.

"Right after you walked out on Sara you bumped into me. You didn't notice it at all, did you?" Greg asked concerned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't... Let me take the murder weapon." Nick reached for the bag with all the pointy and sharp objects but Greg pulled it away.

"Not before you tell me what's going on." Greg sat down next to Nick. "You've been there for me the whole time and I wasn't able to be there for you, although I knew you needed me. But now I am."

Nick sighed. He needed to talk about everything that was going through his mind badly, but he didn't really want to. Especially not with Greg right now. As always, his pride was getting in the way. "I'm fine, Greg, really. Just a little stressed out, is all."

"Come on, I used these empty phrases for weeks, they don't work on me." He smiled at Nick. "Is your arm feeling better?"

Nick nodded. "It'll be fine in a few weeks when the cast is off, I'm sure. But that's not it, I..." Nick stopped. He couldn't tell Greg what was on his mind.

Greg just sat there, waiting for Nick to be ready to talk.

"I... Maybe I should ask Ray if he needs any help, I hear his case is pretty big..." Nick stood up.

"No, Nick." Greg touched his shoulder to keep him from leaving the room. "Listen. If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. But you need to let it out. Believe me, I know what it's like to think you can't talk about this with anyone. I'm here for you when you're ready."

Nick just stared at Greg in surprise. He didn't expect to hear something like that. "I know you've been through a lot of awful stuff lately, but... I don't think you have an idea how I feel." Nick walked out. He didn't want to give Greg a chance to answer to that, nor did he want to see the look on his face. It was a tough thing to say, but Nick really felt that way. Because he didn't go through what Greg was going through and, despite showing an upbeat mood, still was going through.

What did he know, anyways, Nick thought. His feelings were like a roller coaster ride for the last weeks, and now he wanted to lecture Nick about letting them out? He should try to get his act together before giving advice to others.

Now Nick was feeling bad. He knew times have been hard on Greg, why was he thinking like that, then?


	2. Chapter 2

Hours of work, and all Greg had was the murder weapon. One of the many sharp objects was a match to the deadly wound his victim had. But the knife was wiped clean, no finger prints, only blood detected with Luminol. Greg was still waiting for the DNA results, but since Julian was the one processing them, he didn't expect them back in the next few hours... or today. To top it all, his victim was disfigured beyond recognition with lye. It was impossible to identify him since his face and fingerprints were destroyed by the lye and his teeth have been pulled out. All Greg could hope for was a match in CODIS.

After processing every evidence he found at the scene on his own, since Nick refused to help him, he decided to see how far Julian was with processing his evidence.

* * *

><p>"And when the machine is done, we have our results ready!" Julian said enthusiastic. He showed a bored Nick how the DNA lab works, something he already knew, but Julian ignored that fact.<p>

"Is this my results?" Greg came in surprised and excited with a smile on his face. Did Julian really process a DNA as quick as Wendy used to? This would be a first.

"No, I'm not done with yours yet," Julian said without looking at him.

"Then whose is it?" Greg took a look at the printing.

"Nobodies, duh! I'm just showing Nick how these things work. I'll let you know when I'm done processing yours, so..." Julian replied, suggesting Greg to leave.

"That's YOUR DNA profile! Julian, what the hell? You spend time and money showing a level three CSI something he already knows when others wait for their test results?"

"Relax, we were just fooling around a bit. We'll start processing your sample now," Nick said, not looking up to Greg.

Fooling around? With Julian? What was going on here?

"Where's my sample now?" Greg asked, trying not to show how angry he was right now, without too much success.

"Here." Julian held it up, still in the evidence bag, not even prepared to be processed yet.

"Thank you." Greg grabbed the evidence bag and walked out.

"Hey! HEY!" Julian ran after him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm going to process this now, SOMEBODY has to! You two obviously have a lot to do, so just be glad I help you get through your stressful workday!" Trying to walk away, Julian grabbed his arm and took the evidence bag away from him.

"What is your problem, do you have any issues with letting go? You chose to work out in the field and leave the lab behind, live with that decision!"

Breaking free from Julian's strong grip, Greg grabbed the evidence bag again. "Your work morals are dangerous, Julian, you get that? There's someone out there who killed a man and you do nothing to help catch the guy! While you're wasting time playing around he gets the chance to get away! And the victim, I'm sure he had family that wants to know where he is and what happened to him! If you don't care about these people at all, then what are you doing here?" Greg stormed off. He couldn't remember the last time he was that angry. Everyone in the lab could hear their altercation and he didn't care, that's how outraged he was about Julian's work morals, if that's what you could call it. And he was angry with Nick, too. Not because he wouldn't talk about his feelings. Well, Greg was sure this played into account, too. But mostly because he supported Julian's lazy way of working by 'fooling around with him', as they called it. Since when were they friends, anyway?

Walking into another room that was equipped to process DNA samples, he sat down. Calming down a bit, he started to process the sample. If he wasn't at work right now, he probably would cry. With all that's happened and knowing that something was going on with Nick, but he wouldn't confide in Greg, he just felt bad. He sometimes had the feeling his whole life was falling apart, but wanted to try to stay on the positive side of life. But it wasn't easy, when life kept throwing stones his way.

He managed not to cry but wasn't able to keep his face from showing some of the feelings he felt right now.

While waiting for the results, Ray entered. "You two just won't get along, huh?" he said with a faint smile on his face.

Greg didn't return the smile. He wasn't in the mood to pretend that everything was fine. He just shrugged, clearly still angry.

"I know Julian can be... difficult... sometimes, but you can't let him get to you like that. It's unprofessional."

"Funny you should say that. That's exactly what this fight was about. He was messing around with Nick instead of processing my samples."

"So, is this about Julian or Nick, really?" Ray asked without sounding too curious.

Greg looked at him. "Julian, of course! ...Well, maybe not entirely. I mean, we've all been through a lot and we try to deal with it the best we can, but Nick... I'm worried about him. I don't think he talks about what's going on inside him at all."

"Everyone deals different, Greg. Some like to talk, others don't. I understand Nick never was the kind of guy to talk too much about his feelings. Give him some time, I'm sure he'll get through this somehow."

They were interrupted by the computer finally spitting out a DNA match to Greg's victim.

"You found out who he is?" Ray asked.

"Mhm. Huh, that can't be good." Greg looked at the screen.

"What?"

"He's in the police database." Greg clicked the profile open. "Oh..."

"What is it?" Ray looked at the screen. "...I'll call Catherine."

* * *

><p>The CSIs waited for Brass to join them in the break room. Catherine and Greg were standing while Sara, Nick and Ray were sitting at the table. Nobody said anything. These news came unexpected and they were not sure what to make of it right now.<p>

Brass hurried in. "Let me see that." He grabbed the DNA profile Greg had printed and took a look at it. "And you're sure?"

"Yeah," Greg answered, "I checked it three times, there's no doubt. That body is officer Wood, one of the four officers that... tried to kill us."

"And what happened to him? Whose case is this?"

"Mine. I was there with Detective Vega. Wood was stabbed and his face and fingers were disfigured with lye, and his teeth have been pulled out... That's why I didn't recognize him and the only way to identify him was his DNA," Greg explained.

"How did you take a sample?" Brass took notes.

"Saliva, blood from the wound, as well as from the ground. I'm certain, that's him."

"Sounds like he did everything right," Nick said, looking at Greg, only to see him avoiding eye contact.

"Alright. You're on this case only. I need you to find out what happened and who did this, ASAP." Brass walked out.

"Are you gonna be alright with this case alone? Maybe someone can help you with it?" Catherine asked Greg. She knew Ray and Sara were on cases of their own, just like herself.

"No, I'll be fine," he answered.

"I could help," Nick chimed in. "I don't have anything to do right now, anyways." He looked at Greg, waiting for a reaction, but Greg didn't show any.

"Alright, then, you two try to work it out. You know where to find me if you need anything." Catherine went out.


	3. Chapter 3

Nick and Greg were sitting at a light table, looking at the crime scene pictures. They needed to find out how officer Wood died.

Greg kept the conversations professional, much to Nick's annoyance. After half an hour, Nick couldn't take it anymore.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Greg asked free of emotion, still looking at the pictures.

"What are you mad at me for?" Nick just had to ask.

Greg looked at him. "I'm not." He picked one of the pictures up, trying not to get into this conversation.

"Of course you are!" Nick pulled the picture out of Greg's hand. "Is it because of Julian? I didn't mean to defend him."

"This has nothing to do with Julian."

"So there is something? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. You made it pretty clear that you don't need me and I'm trying to give you some space." Again, Greg didn't have much emotions in his voice or his face. On the inside, it looked completely different.

"I never said that."

Greg sighed. "What do you want me to do, Nick? I have no idea how to deal with this! I offered you to talk to me, but you don't want to. That's okay, I guess."

"Then how come you don't look okay with it?"

Greg averted his gaze off Nick. "Come on, Nick, we have work to do."

"You're not getting off that easily now. Please, Greg. I really feel like this could hurt our friendship if we don't talk about it." It's not that Nick didn't want to talk to Greg, he just didn't want to talk about his feelings or about what happened.

"Alright, I'm listening. What do you want to say? You said I don't understand how you feel, right? Then why won't you explain it to me?"

Nick couldn't help but hear the hurt in Greg's voice, but kept pushing him, without even noticing it. "How is it that you expected me to respect you not wanting to talk about your feelings but I don't get the same? Why is this so important to you?"

"Because! Nick, in all these years of our friendship I felt like it's been a one way thing. I told you everything and you only told me half of the things going on. And that was okay, I figured you didn't need to talk more. But now I see how it affects you and you're too stubborn and too proud to talk about it!"

Nick just stared at Greg. It never felt like that to Nick. He was that kind of guy that didn't want to talk too much about everything, but he didn't know that it hurt Greg. In fact, Nick told Greg more than he told most people.

Greg tried to calm down again. "I'm sorry. You have every right to keep things to yourself, but every time I reach out to you, you push me away. And I know now I did the same to you a few weeks back and I feel really bad about it, and I know I have no right to expect you to confide in me, but... I can't take it anymore. I can't take being pushed away all the time right now." He didn't plan to spill his feelings like that on Nick but the words just kept coming. He felt too fragile at the moment to be treated like that.

"I'm not... pushing you away, Greg. I... I don't know what I am doing, but pushing you away... No." Nick was overwhelmed by what Greg just said. He had no idea how to deal with it.

"Maybe not on purpose, but you are. And I keep wondering why. Do you still blame me for what's happened?" Greg just kept talking and talking.

"What?" Nick laughed humorlessly. "Don't be ridiculous, I never blamed you for this. You're really overreacting. You're reading way too much into this, Greg."

"Am I? Or is it just more convenient to think that?" Greg headed for the door. "I need some air..."

* * *

><p>The next shift arrived. Both Nick and Greg tried to process what happened between them at home. Greg obviously wasn't processing it well, so he decided to split the work on the case so that they wouldn't have to work together. Catherine noticed something going on between the two and decided to find out what it was.<p>

"Hey Nicky. Where's Greg?"

"Down in autopsy, trying to find out more about how Wood died," Nick answered while processing evidence on his own.

"Is everything alright between you two?" Catherine asked worried.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're... good."

"Can you say that again without the worried look on your face?" Cath smiled at him.

He sighed. "I don't know, Catherine, what's going on with him. He's oversensitive, choleric, it's just too much at times."

Catherine sat down next to him. "But he was so cheerful the last few days. It looked like he really turned around. What happened?"

Catherine was right, Nick thought. Greg really tried to leave all the troubles behind and start all over. Nick's behavior, though, ruined it all, he was sure. "Alright... I might've said something that upset him..."

"And what was that?"

"He wants me to tell him everything that's going on in my life and I don't need that, so he said I push him away. He's clearly overreacting."

"Is he?" Catherine looked at Nick. She knew his colleague very well and knew that he tended to push people away when things got unpleasant. "Why don't you just reach out to him, prove him he's wrong, then? Tell him what's on your mind, it'll make both of you feel better."

"I can't." Nick looked away.

"Why not? He's your friend, why can't you talk to him?"

"Because I don't want to load my troubles on him, that wouldn't be fair. He's been through enough already." Not even Nick believed this excuse, why would he think Catherine would?

"Oh come on, Nicky, cut the crap. He could take it and you know that. What's the real reason?" For some reason, Catherine's bluntness worked for Nick well enough to tell her what's wrong.

He sighed. "The truth is, I'm long over what happened. I thought being buried in that small space would trigger some memories from, you know, when I was being buried. But it didn't. The arm will heal, that's all fine."

"So what's troubling you, then?"

"Well... I just can't get over the fact that I did nothing to help arrest Dunbrook and that I wasn't able to fight anyone of them off at that crime scene... And now they got away and again I'm stuck at the lab and can't go after them!"

"...That's it?" Catherine asked surprised.

Nick nodded a little confused.

"You risk your friendship... This case, even, because of some macho pride thing?" Catherine tried hard not to yell at Nick.

"What? No!" Nick was surprised about Catherine's insensitive reaction. He just told her how hard it is to talk about his feelings and now that he did, this is what he gets from her? "For the last weeks I felt completely useless. That has nothing to do with pride! Besides, Greg and I are good, he's just pissed at me, it'll pass."

"No, it has everything to do with pride. You don't feel that way because these cops are on the run, you feel that way because YOU can't go after them. I can't believe you! Now go find Greg and apologize to him! Because he's not just pissed at you, Nick. He's deeply hurt!"

"But Catherine, I..."

"Go!" She yelled.

* * *

><p>Down in autopsy, Greg was talking to Doc Robbins.<p>

"Take a look. He was still alive when his fingers were spilled with the lye. Lucky for him, he was dead when it was spilled on his face." Doc Robbins held up one of the victim's hands.

Greg nodded. "Was he strapped down and gagged?"

"Good eye." The Doc smiled. "Yes, these ligature marks suggest that. He was probably not tied to a chair but to a bed or something like that, because he was lying down when he was bleeding out."

Greg sighed. "It's not like this guy was a saint, but he didn't deserve being tortured, either." Greg wasn't sure what to feel about officer Wood's painful death. He was almost glad that he died, but at the same time felt ashamed for thinking that.

"What's done is done. He brought it to himself when he chose to team up with a bunch of lunatics," Doc Robbins said, trying to comfort a seemingly affected Greg.

Greg gave him a faint smile. "Yeah... But still, we need to find out which of these lunatics did this to him. But thank you, Doc." He walked out.

* * *

><p>On his way out he saw Nick walking up to him. Trying to walk past his colleague without saying anything, Nick stopped him. "Hey, I was looking for you."<p>

"Well, here I am..." Greg was headed to the exit door.

"Would you please wait a second?" Nick asked with annoyance in his voice.

Greg stopped, but didn't turn around to face Nick. "What is it?"

"Oh come on, Greg, please. I want to apologize, don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Greg turned around. "Alright..." Greg sat down on a bench in front of the autopsy room.

Nick didn't. He kept standing. "Okay... I'm sorry... For everything I said. It's funny because..." Nick started walking up and down. "I tried everything to make sure not to burden you with my problems and ended up making things worse than they have to be. Greg, I... I didn't tell you how I felt because I needed you to think I'm fine. I needed you to think I'm stronger than I really was and I wanted you to concentrate on your own troubles, not mine." Nick stopped to wait and see Greg's reaction to this.

Greg just sat there, looking at the floor. "I don't need to be protected, Nick. I wanted to be there for you..."

"I know, I know. But still, I have the feeling I have to shield you from everything bad, especially after all that's happened. I'm a jerk, I led you into believing I'm much worse than I actually was."

"Don't play it down, Nick. It's okay, you have every right to..." He was interrupted by Nick.

"No, I am okay. The only problem I have is that I feel useless because I'm not allowed in the field and I couldn't help arrest Dunbrook." Nick again waited to see Greg's reaction. He feared to get a similar reaction to Catherine's.

For a moment, Greg thought exactly what she did. _What is he thinking? Treating me that way because he's too proud to let others do the job? _

But Greg wasn't about to react like that. He just stood up and faced Nick.

"You ARE a jerk, Nick." Greg smiled at him while patting him on his shoulder. "Now come on, let's leave this all behind us, alright?"

Nick smiled. He was relieved Greg was able to forgive him. He had a good feeling about their friendship and hoped that Greg would find his good mood back soon.

"So, Doc Robbins said Wood was strapped down in a lying position when he died..." They walked back to the lab together and Greg filled Nick in on the news on the case.


	4. Chapter 4

Two days in the lab – and it was finally over!

Nick was allowed back in the field, although Catherine didn't want him to. But he insisted and wanted to see the scene where they found officer Wood, so he and Greg went.

Wood's body was found in an abandoned warehouse. A company wanted to buy it and wanted to take a look at it when they found the disfigured body.

Blood drops, shoe prints and lots of dirt was what Nick first saw when he walked inside.

"Wow, what a mess," he said while making his way to where the body was found.

"Wait." Greg stopped.

Nick turned around. "What is it?"

"I don't know, something's different." Greg looked around. He didn't know what it was, but something was wrong. The crime scene looked a bit different when Greg saw it the first time. He took a closer look with his flash light. "These ropes weren't here two days ago." He picked up four ropes lying on the ground for everyone to see.

"Someone was here? Are you sure you didn't forget them?"

"How could I overlook them when they're lying here in plain sight?" Greg went further into the warehouse. It had two halls so he went into the other.

Nick stayed in the other one.

"There's a uniform." Greg said from the other hall while taking pictures of it.

"Why would someone try to hide his victim's identity with lye and then come back to leave all these hints behind? Doesn't make any sense..." Nick said while taking a look around. He was close to the entrance when he heard something outside. "What was that?"

"I'll go check it out. You two stay here." The officer assigned to the scene, Carter, said while walking to where the noise was coming from.

Nick was thinking about going with the officer. If Greg wasn't in the other hall, he would've. Instead, he watched the officer walk away, yearning to follow him. When he was too far for Nick to still be able to see him in the dark, he heard a noise coming from the hall Greg was in.

"Greg, what are you doing?" He walked towards the door leading to the other hall when someone ran out, coming Nick's way.

"Hey, stop!" Nick drew his weapon.

The man stopped.

"Officer Monroe..." Nick said. He was one of the officers that tried to kill the CSIs.

"You'll let me get out of here, alright?" Monroe said in a weirdly confident voice.

"In your dreams, Monroe." Nick got nervous and excited at the same time. Finally he could do something to help the case, but why did Monroe think he'll get out of here? And where was Greg? "...What did you do to him?" Nick finally asked, fearing for the worst.

"Nothing... Yet! But I will if you don't let me get out of here!" Monroe yelled.

"That's not gonna happen." Nick kept pointing his gun at the officer. But Monroe looked rather unimpressed by this.

Slowly, Greg was walking towards the two men.

"Nick, let him go," Greg said in a calm, but fearful voice.

"What? Why should I?" Nick said, keeping his eyes on Monroe.

Officer Carter, who was checking out the noise they heard, came back. "What's going on?" He quickly put out his gun and pointed it at Monroe.

"Put your hands up, Monroe!" Nick shouted.

"Get over here!" Monroe commanded Greg.

Greg looked at Nick before he went over to Monroe, giving him a 'I'm sorry' look.

"Don't...!" Nick said desperately. "What the hell are you doing?"

Monroe grabbed Greg by the arm and used him as a human shield. "Let me go now." He got a gun out of his pocket and put it on Greg's neck.

Nick gave Greg an angry look. Why did he do that? "Put the gun down, Monroe..."

"That's not gonna happen." He forcefully pressed the gun at Greg's neck.

"Nick, let him go," Greg said with fear in his voice.

"But..." Nick wasn't sure what he should do. Let this guy walk out with Greg, not knowing what he might do to him once they're out, or hope he won't pull the trigger when he's being held here?

Monroe used more force pressing the gun against Greg's neck. "Come on! Let me go!"

"Alright, take it easy..." Nick slowly held his gun down and told the officer to do the same.

"You two stay here. If you follow me, he's dead." He went out with Greg and made him close the door to the warehouse.


	5. Chapter 5

"Dammit!" Nick kicked a box standing next to him.

"Shouldn't we go after him?" Officer Carter asked Nick while calling the incident through his radio.

"No, we can't risk that... Let's just hope Greg gets back... Why did he go to him?" Nick still couldn't believe Greg did that. He let him get away, he thought.

A few minutes passed when finally the door opened. It was Greg.

"What the hell just happened, Greg? Why did you run into this maniac's arms?" Nick went over to him to check if he had any injuries. Despite a bruise on his neck, he was fine. Nick was both angry and concerned.

"What you just did was reckless!" Officer Carter said while walking pass Greg and storming out. He decided to wait outside for backup. He was too angry at Greg to wait in there with him.

Greg sat down on the ground, leaning against a wall. He was shaking. "He had a bomb, Nick," Greg replied rather exhausted.

Nick looked surprised. "A bomb...? Are you sure?"

"He showed it to me, it was strapped around his body."

"Yeah, but are you sure it was a real bomb?" Nick asked.

Greg looked at Nick in confusion. "It looked real enough not to take any risks."

"Why didn't you stay in the other hall and let me take care of it? Dammit!" Nick was furious. He kicked the box again.

"Because he had a BOMB, Nick! He told me to wait there and then come out or he'd blown the whole building up!"

"He was bluffing, Greg! He didn't HAVE a bomb!"

"I did what I thought was the right thing to do, Nick," Greg said a bit disappointed. Not because he let Monroe get away, but because of Nick's reaction.

Nick turned around. He was too angry to look Greg in the eyes right now. "If he kills anyone else that's on you!", he said and walked out of the warehouse.

* * *

><p>When Greg and Nick arrived back at the lab, they were expected in Catherine's office.<p>

The two didn't talk with each other ever since Nick blamed Greg for everything Monroe might do now that he got a chance to run away.

Catherine, Brass and Ecklie were already waiting for them in the office.

"Sit down," Brass said roughly.

Catherine put her glasses down. "What the hell happened in there?"

"Did you really walk into the arms of a dangerous fugitive?" Brass asked Greg angrily.

"It wasn't anything like that..." Greg said defensive. He explained what went down in that warehouse.

"And you're alright?" Catherine was concerned now. At first she was angry with them, because she thought they just let him get away. With Greg saying there was a bomb, it all made sense. For Catherine, at least.

Nick nodded.

"Yeah, we're fine," Greg said, looking at Nick.

"And where was officer Carter when it all happened?" Ecklie asked Greg.

"He said he heard a noise outside and wanted to check it out."

"You didn't hear it?"

Greg shook his head. "I was in the other hall, but I think Nick heard it."

"Did you?" Ecklie asked, looking at Nick.

"Mhm," was all Nick had so say.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Nick said annoyed.

Both Nick and Greg couldn't know that officer Carter was friends with Randall, the officer that shoot himself in the head while taking Greg and Nick hostage, a fact they just found out a few hours ago. They weren't sure they could trust him anymore, but the way Greg told the story didn't really justify their mistrust.

"I'm glad you're okay," Catherine said with a smile on her face. She noticed Nick was in a bad mood, but figured it was, again, his pride. He had the chance to catch one of the bad guys but didn't.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sanders!" Julian shouted from inside the DNA lab.<p>

Greg walked in. "Are my results ready?"

"There they are." Julian handed him the results. "I heard about what happened at the warehouse."

Greg looked up to him, preparing for something stupid coming out of the lab tech's mouth.

"Whatever Nick thinks happened, you did the right thing..." Julian turned around to process some DNA samples.

Greg was astonished. Did he really say that? He usually had nothing but smart-ass comments or insults to say, why did he say that now? A sheepish "...Thank you," was all Greg could say after that unexpected conversation.

Julian. Even Julian thought Greg did everything right! Why couldn't Nick see that? It seemed to Greg like the only way to communicate between the two was arguing now. And he hated that.

_'Wait a minute. If I have a problem with Nick's behavior, I should just confront him!',_ Greg thought.

That's what he wanted to do! Just talk to him about it. They're grown-ups, after all. He was sure they could work it out if he just opened his mouth about it!


	6. Chapter 6

The drive Greg felt earlier suddenly vanished when he got to the door of Nick's office. He was getting nervous. What would he want to say to him? He should've thought about that before he got here. Should he come back later?

The door opened. _Too late now_, he thought.

Nick stood in front of him, looking at him. "You want something?"

_Okay, just say no and leave, _Greg kept thinking to himself. No, he needed to do this now.

"Actually... yeah, I want to talk to you."

" 'Bout what?" Nick said, leaning against the door frame.

"Well, I..." Greg noticed that someone was watching them. Turning around, he saw Archie, Bobby, Henry and Hodges standing there, trying to eavesdrop on the two. "Let's get inside," he said, guiding Nick into the office.

Nick sighed. He really didn't want to see Greg right now. "What is it?"

"This wasn't my fault, Nick." Greg thought he should cut to the chase right away, and not beat around the bush like he usually does.

"Okay." Nick sat down. "Is that all you want?"

Greg looked at Nick in disbelieve. Why did he behave like that? "He could've killed us, Nick! I had no choice."

Nick laughed humorlessly, but didn't say anything.

"What's so funny?" Greg asked annoyed.

"You know, if I didn't know it any better, after today I'd think you have something to do with this."

"...Excuse me?" Greg was confused. Did Nick mean what he thought he did?

"You let this... monster walk out of there tonight without even TRYING to stop him! You even escorted him to YOUR car so that he could drive away with it!"

It really hit Greg hard. "Do you really blame me for this? Because I didn't want to risk three lives? He could've killed us!"

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Greg," Nick said without looking at Greg.

"You know, Nick... Mere hours ago you feared your behavior could ruin our friendship, remember? I'm glad you don't have these fears anymore," Greg said sarcastically and left the room.

Nick sighed. What was he doing? Deep inside he knew Greg did the right thing. He knew he would've done the same if the roles were reversed. At least he hoped he would've, because anything else would've been insane. Why was he being such an asshole, then?

* * *

><p>"Ray, Catherine said you closed your case, right?" Greg asked his older colleague.<p>

"I did. You want some help with your case?" Ray replied.

Greg went into the break room with a smile on his face. A fake one, after what just happened with Nick he wasn't feeling like smiling, but he didn't want anyone to know.

"The ropes we found at the scene, as well as the uniform, have Wood's DNA on it. I also found a scarf with his saliva on it, probably what they used to gag him with. There were two other donors on these things. Monroe and James." Greg handed Ray the DNA test results and pictures of the uniform, scarf and the ropes.

Ray took a look at the pictures. "That's an army knot. Was anyone of them in the army?"

Greg opened a folder. "James served for seven years before joining the police."

"Could mean he was the one who strapped Wood down. But with both their DNA on it we can't know for sure."

"Well, I have been thinking. Why would Wood go back to the scene only to leave evidence behind?"

"That's a good question, Greg. As a cop he should know that we can't use them in court, but it would indeed be stupid to help get us on the right track when he murdered Wood."

"Well," Greg cleared his throat, "Brass said James fled alone, right? It's just a theory, but maybe he was pissed that they just left him there with Brass? Maybe he wants to take revenge on them for betraying him?"

Ray nodded. "That's a good theory, but how does Monroe play a part in this scenario?"

"He had wounds on his face and arms. I'm pretty sure it's cuts and a chemical burn. Lye, maybe?" Greg handed Ray pictures of the body. "He probably tried to fight James off and got the cuts this way. And now that James killed one of his friends, he helps us identify him as the killer."

"That's a long shot, but possible. Did he say anything helpful to you in that warehouse?" Ray looked at the pictures.

"No, the only thing he had in mind was to get out of there. I think he placed the evidence in there when we arrived at the scene, so he hid and waited for a good opportunity to get out. When he saw me getting closer to his hideout, he came out and tried his luck."

"Did you find anything else at the scene? New evidence?" Ray wondered.

"Yeah. Nick and the officer heard noises shortly before Wood came up to me. We found a cigarette butt and shoe prints back there. It's a few feet away from the warehouse, so it could be irrelevant. I'm still waiting for DNA on the cigarette butt."

Nick went into the room with a coffee cup in his hand. "What are you two doing here?"

Greg ignored him, but Ray answered, "Discussing the case."

"...Our case?" Nick asked when he looked at Greg.

"Nope, you're off the case," Greg replied in a cold way, still not looking at Nick.

"What do you mean?"

Greg gave Nick a 'are you serious' look. "I asked Ray to help me, you're off."

"Why would you do that? You know how important this is for me!" Nick was getting angry. He had no idea why Greg would do this, despite him acting like a jerk towards him. He didn't take Greg too serious earlier, when he implied that their friendship was ruined by Nick's behavior.

Ray felt uncomfortable being caught in the middle of this.

"A friend might care how important this case is to you, Nick. I don't." Greg stood up and headed for the door.

_Did he just say that? _Both Nick and Ray thought.

"What?" Nick asked puzzled.

But Greg didn't answer, he just left the room.

* * *

><p>"Hey, wait!" Nick went after him.<p>

"What is it?" Greg tilted his head back in annoyance.

"What do you mean, you don't care? Since when are we not friends anymore?" Nick really had no clue.

Greg sighed. "Jeez, Nick, I don't know! Maybe since you said I screwed up at that warehouse? Maybe since you don't trust me anymore?"

"I never said that..." Nick tried to talk himself out of it. Of course he did, but he saw how angry Greg was. Previously he assumed whatever Nick said to him, Greg would calm down eventually, like he always does. He didn't know he crossed a line with what he said.

Greg rolled his eyes and turned around.

"Wait!" Nick grabbed his arm to stop him from walking out on him. "Okay, maybe I did. I'm sorry. I was angry because we let Wood get away, but that doesn't mean I don't care about our friendship!"

"You know what, spare me the excuses! You can't just use me as your punching bag over and over again and think everything's fine once you apologized!" The pain in Greg's eyes was almost too much for Nick to take.

"Greg, I had no idea you feel that way... I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"Don't. I'm sick of it! You had no idea? I just TOLD you yesterday that you keep pushing me away and now you're doing it again! Congratulations! You pushed hard enough!" Greg tried to talk as quiet as possible, but it wasn't quiet enough, since Ray heard everything.

* * *

><p>After Greg walked off, Nick went back into the break room with a shocked look on his face.<p>

"Are you alright?" Ray asked concerned.

Nick sat down at the table. He was bummed out by what Greg just said. How could he not see what he did to Greg with his behavior? "I really messed up, huh?" He looked up to Ray.

"He'll calm down eventually. But he's right." Ray sat down next to him.

Nick looked surprised at Ray. He knew he messed up, but he wanted Ray to say that it's not that bad.

"Well, what you said to him at that crime scene is inexcusable. Especially after everything that's happened, you know how fragile he's been in the last months. Everyone has a breaking point, and you just reached his. What did you expect?"

"You know... Everyone acts like it only happened to him! It happened to all of us! Why don't I get indulgence from anyone?"

"I think Greg's been very lenient with you in the past days. Let's be honest here, Nick. You acted like a jerk, and I think you know it. Greg tried his best to be there for you, but you didn't make it easy for him." Ray knew he didn't know everything that's happened between them, but he was a good observer and knew Nick well enough to get a good picture of what happened.

Nick sighed. He was too tired to argue with Ray, especially since he knew he was right. "How can I make it up to him?"

"Well, personally, I'd try to give him some space at first. When he's cooled off, go talk to him. Tell him you know he did the right thing. Tell him you're thankful he saved your life. I really think he needs to hear this from you."

Nick looked up in surprise. Ray was right. Greg probably saved his life and Nick didn't even realize until now.

"You've been friends for over ten years, he'll forgive you eventually." Ray patted Nick on the back and left.


	7. Chapter 7

Greg was sitting around in the DNA lab. For a change, Julian didn't mind. He was busy working and Greg wasn't talking to him. Also, after what Julian said to him, Greg wasn't as annoyed by Julian anymore. He showed that he had a human side and Greg appreciated that. And he was busy thinking about Nick, anyways. He felt really bad for telling Nick off, but he thought it was long overdue. He was done being everybody's doormat. He was tired of feeling abused. But Nick normally didn't make him feel that way. He remembered now what it used to be.

Nick had always been a good friend to him. He always had his back, they had fun together and trusted each other. What happened? How could it come to this? Was he being too harsh with Nick? He's going through a hard time, too, he would've never said something like that if it wasn't for everything that's happened before.

_Great!_ He thought. Now HE felt guilty. Again. Only a few days ago he wanted to be there for Nick, and now he pushed him away because he felt pushed away? It all didn't make any sense. Why was it so hard for them? Why couldn't they just get back to how things were? It all came so easy. And now? It was hard.

"There you go." Julian handed Greg the DNA results from the cigarette butt.

"Thanks," Greg said and stormed out.

* * *

><p>Nick was sitting in front of his locker. He wanted some time by himself and this room was usually the only one at the lab where he could be alone for a few minutes.<p>

Greg entered. "Just shut up and listen to me for a moment," he said determined.

"...Okay," Nick replied surprised. He didn't expect to see Greg until the next shift. He actually prepared to give him some space, and now he was here talking to him.

"What you said earlier was harsh. It was hurtful and mean and not true."

"I know, I..." Nick said before being cut off by Greg.

"I said shut up!"

Nick nodded apologetic.

Greg continued. "It really hurt me that you would even consider thinking that I might have ANY connections to Dunbrook! To think that I'd let Monroe get away without having a good reason... It really made me wonder what's wrong with you!"

After a longer angry monologue Greg calmed down. "And then I realized... I know what's wrong with you."

Nick looked surprised up to him.

"We've both been through a lot in the last months. We cheated death a few times. It's no wonder you act a little off. I did, too. But the difference between us is that I had someone to help me snap out of it. At least I think I did." He had a faint smile on his lips. "And now I'll help you get over this. When you're ready... And if you want me to help you. It's up to you..." Greg turned around.

"...Wait!" Nick said hesitant. "I wanted to...Thank you... For saving my life, Greg," he said sheepish.

Greg turned around a little to look at Nick, gave him a faint smile and walked off.

* * *

><p>Ray rubbed his tired eyes. "The cigarette butts have officer James' DNA on it?"<p>

"I'm not sure what to make of it." Greg handed Ray the report. "Maybe they've been lying there for days, maybe James did come back to the scene. Or Wood placed them there."

"So they're useless evidence?"

"I'm afraid so. We have absolutely no lead whatsoever about their whereabouts. We don't even know if they're still in Vegas," Greg said while Catherine was walking up to them.

"I can tell you where Green is," Catherine said while putting pictures on the light table.

"Green? Is that the fourth officer?" Ray asked.

She nodded.

"Catherine..." Greg looked at the pictures. "Is that him?"

"Sara just sent these pictures. When she heard that the victim at her crime scene was disfigured with lye, she figured it was one of the cops. Julian just confirmed it's Green," Catherine explained.

"Same MO... The lye, anyways. Was he stabbed as well?" Greg kept looking at the pictures.

"Yeah. Abandoned warehouse, stabbed and he tried to hide his victim's identity with lye. It's safe to say that whoever killed Wood also killed Green."

"Well then let's hope he left some valuable evidence behind this time..." Ray said tired.

* * *

><p>"You see this blood trail?" Sara asked Brass. They still were at the crime scene where they found officer Green.<p>

"It's leading away from the scene, right?"

Sara nodded. "Exactly. It might be from the killer. He might've cut himself. Knife combats are messy." She swabbed and photographed it.

"Or he was holding the murder weapon when he was walking off?" Brass concluded.

"Maybe. We'll see. Let's just hope he got some cuts, too."

* * *

><p>Catherine, Ray and Sara were standing in the DNA lab.<p>

"It's officer James' blood," Julian said. He handed Ray the report.

"So James walks away from the murder scene, he's bleeding. He got some cuts while fighting with Green. Makes sense, doesn't it?" Ray said while handing the report to Catherine.

"Did you find the murder weapon?" Catherine asked Sara.

"Yeah, it was sticking out of Green's back. We didn't see it until David moved the body. Greg's dusting it for prints right now... ah, there he is."

Greg hurried into the lab. "We've got a print!" he exclaimed in excitement.

"Is it James'?" Catherine asked hopeful.

Greg nodded. "Yes it is! We've got him! He did it!"

"Don't get too excited, yet," Catherine replied. "We can prosecute him for the murders only if we find him. How are we gonna do that?"

Brass walked in. They all looked surprised at him, he usually didn't enter the labs. "Maybe I can help out. I talked to officer James' friends and family. They all said he had a cabin in the woods near Lake Mead. I'll drive out there now, I just came by to tell you the news in person."

* * *

><p>While Catherine and Brass were driving to James' cabin, the team went to search Monroe's house for evidence. It was a nice apartment in Spring Valley.<p>

Greg, Ray and Sara went there, accompanied by one uniform. They had a key from the landlord and went in. It was dark so they had their flash lights on.

"What's that smell?" Sara asked while turning the light switch on. Greg closed the door.

Taking a look around, they didn't find anything that could explain the smell. In fact, it was a very clean apartment.

"I'll take the living room. Greg, process the bedroom and Ray, you take the kitchen."

They nodded and went to the rooms Sara assigned them to.

* * *

><p>Half an hour passed when Ray joined Sara in the living room. "You find anything?"<p>

She sighed. "Nothing. He probably knew the risk he was taking and didn't want us to find anything in case we are onto him."

"Well I found this." Ray held up an empty bottle of milk.

"And that's interesting because...?"

Ray smiled. "Because I also found this." He held up a receipt. "It was bought today."

"What?" Sara asked surprised. "Someone's been here... TODAY?"

Ray nodded. "It was bought almost eight hours ago."

"But why would Monroe come here? That's dangerous, he should know we'd search his home!"

"At least we now know he's still in Vegas. We still have a good chance to find him."

Sara nodded. "Did you find out what's that smell?"

"It's not coming from the kitchen, so Greg might have an answer to that."


	8. Chapter 8

When Catherine and Brass reached the cabin, they didn't find James in it or anywhere near it. They searched the whole area for him, but he wasn't there.

Catherine was accompanying Brass and his men, she wanted to be there when they arrest James. "I'll take a look inside," she said while entering the cabin.

"What's all of this?" Brass asked while taking a look inside.

Catherine sighed. "This doesn't look too good. It looks like he was building a bomb in here."

"A bomb? So the bomb Greg saw was real?"

"Well, Greg was face to face with Monroe, not with James. But I'd bet my money they both know how to build one."

"Great, we have two lunatics out there, probably both with bombs strapped around their bodies. THAT can't be good!" Brass said sarcastically while answering his ringing cell phone. "Brass."

While he was talking on the phone, Catherine took a closer look in the cabin. She found some blue prints, pictures of buildings and a list with names on it. Catherine decided to concentrate on the list first. "That's a list of everyone who's involved with Dunbrook, I think. Randall, Monroe and a bunch of other officers' names are on it..." Catherine turned around to Brass.

"Ray asks us to join them at Monroe's apartment. There's something we need to see."

* * *

><p>Greg was sitting on the bed in the room he was supposed to process. On the walls was blood spatter, as was on the bed. He's been sitting there for half an hour now.<p>

"Greg? Did you find out what that smell is?" Sara opened the door to the bedroom, followed by Ray and the officer.

"Good, your friends are here." James grinned while pointing a gun at Greg.

They stopped.

"Come on in, there's plenty of room!" He made them sit down on the bed as well. "I'm glad you're all here. But this little group is not complete yet."

* * *

><p>Nick's phone was ringing. "Hey Sara."<p>

"_Hey, I know you're busy, but could you come to Monroe's apartment? There's something you need to see." _

"Yeah, I told you I..."

"_Thanks, see you later."_ Sara hung up before Nick could finish that sentence.

Hodges sat down next to Nick with a cup of coffee in his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Sara just called me... She asked me to come to the crime scene. I told here I'd join them later, anyways, and now she asks me without saying anything else."

Hodges shrugged. "You think something's wrong?"

"Maybe..." Nick got up and walked out.

* * *

><p>"Attagirl! When he, Captain Brass and Willows arrive... We can get the party started, right?" James laughed devilish. Monroe was sitting next to him. He was bleeding from his head, but was alive. He didn't look too well, but considering the head wound, that was no surprise. Next to them was a bottle of lye. That's what caused the smell, the CSIs thought.<p>

"Why are you doing this? Why didn't you just leave Vegas?" Ray asked angrily.

"Well, things didn't work as planned, so I had to change my plans."

"Okay, you're mad at us..." Greg chimed in. "Then why don't you let him go?" He pointed at the cop. "He didn't do anything to you, it's us you're mad at."

"I'm sorry, Jared." James turned to the officer. "You've always been a good colleague but you're at the wrong place at the wrong time." He grinned. "No one's getting out of here alive, you understand?"

They all looked at him in fear.

"Now, whose gun is that?" He picked up Ray's. "Wouldn't it be fun if I'd killed each of you with their own gun?"

* * *

><p>"Catherine, where are you?" Nick asked her over the phone.<p>

"_Just past Henderson, why? Are you at Monroes' apartment?"_

"Yeah. Sara called me. She sounded weird, I think something might be wrong."

Silence for a few seconds._ "I understand... We'll hurry up. Just don't do anything before we arrive, alright?"_

"Got it." Nick hung up. He knew as well as Catherine that that wasn't an option for him, he just needed a plan.

Walking around the apartment complex, he noticed the fire escape. Thinking about it for a moment, whether it was a good idea to try anything without knowing what was really going on, he decided to trust his feeling and get up there.

"Alright, four people and only three guns. Too bad you don't carry," James said to Greg. "You want to decide which gun I'll use on you or should I surprise you?"

They looked at each other scared. How were they supposed to get out of this situation? Sara just hoped Nick got the message she tried to convey.


	9. Chapter 9

When Nick reached the third floor, he noticed the curtains had all been closed. He was only able to get a peek inside the bedroom. He didn't like what he saw. Greg was sitting on the bed. Nick knew he wasn't stupid enough to do so at a crime scene without good reason, and being forced to do so was the only good reason Nick could think of.

Nick called Catherine and also called it trough his radio. They now officially had a situation at Monroe's apartment.

But Nick had no idea what exactly was going on so he decided to call Sara again and tried to find out as much as possible, hoping that James wouldn't make her put the call on speaker.

* * *

><p>The cellphone rang.<p>

"What now? Stokes... What does he want? Pick it up." James tossed the phone over to Sara.

* * *

><p>"Hey Sara. Is he listening?"<p>

She tried not to look surprised that Nick knew. _"No."_

"Alright... Are you guys okay?"

"_Yes."_

"If it's only James tell me the address."

"_...What?"_

"Tell me Monroe's address to confirm that James is the one holding you guys hostage!"

"_Oh... yeah, it's Galley Drive."_

"Does he have a bomb?"

"_Uh-huh..."_

"And guns?"

"_Yeah,"_ Sara said while she heard James say 'Make it quick'.

"I'm at the window, I only see Greg. If you can, get James..." Nick was interrupted by Sara.

"_Alright, I hope you'll find it. Bye."_

"Dammit..." Nick whispered to himself. He called the information he just gathered from Sara through his radio and let Catherine know about it.

* * *

><p>"Is he coming soon?" James asked. He was giddy with excitement.<p>

"He got a little lost... But he'll be here soon..." Sara frowned.

"And now? You'll blow away that building?" Ray asked aggressively. He had a hard time just sitting around, not being able to do something about their situation. He, like Greg, had no idea Nick was outside, trying to rescue them. Their situation seemed hopeless and even with Nick being outside, their chances didn't look that much better.

"You hear that?" The engine of a car could be heard. "Maybe that's Stokes!" James said joyful. He turned around to open the curtains.

Instead of looking out the window to see a car, he looked right into the barrel of Nick's gun.

* * *

><p>Brass and Catherine finally arrived. "There's Nick's car!" Catherine said while walking towards the vehicle.<p>

They heard a shot.

"Oh no!" They both started running towards where the shot was coming from. They just stared up the fire escape in fear.

"Come on!" Brass ushered Catherine away from the building in fear a bomb might explode.

Two patrol cars were driving up to them. "We might need to evacuate this building!" Brass yelled over to the officers.


	10. Chapter 10

Greg, Sara, Ray and the police officer were still sitting in the bedroom, but with their hands up.

Monroe was shaking while pointing a gun at them. "Let me go, Stokes, or I'll shoot them!"

James' body was lying on the floor. A clean head shot took him out instantly. Shattered glass was lying all over the room, some of it hit Monroe and the CSIs.

Greg gave Nick a look. This time he didn't want to let Monroe get out of there. He didn't have a bomb at him, just Ray's gun. They could arrest him without anyone getting injured, Greg thought.

But Nick didn't want to risk anything. Being in a similar situation like Greg was, he now understood why Greg let him go. Also, he knew something Greg didn't.

"Alright, Monroe... I'll put my gun down. Just don't hurt anyone, okay?" Nick slowly did so.

"Come in and sit on the bed!" Monroe was shaking more and more. His heart was beating like crazy and sweat and blood was dropping from his face.

Nick went in. He seemed to be oddly calm and gave his colleagues a faint but soothing smile.

"Just leave. Get out of Vegas and don't come back. Start a new life somewhere else," Nick said to Monroe.

Greg gave him a rather confused look. Why the sudden change of heart? He was all over him for doing the same thing he was about to do now. But this time, Greg thought, they had a good chance of getting everyone out alive AND arrest Monroe.

Monroe looked confused. He wasn't even pointing the gun at anyone right now, he was just standing there, holding it in his hand.

Ray gave Nick a look. He could take him. He's probably lost a lot of blood due to his head wound, he might even have a concussion, he probably wouldn't be able to react properly. But Nick shook his head very subtle.

"Come on, get out of here!" Nick yelled at Monroe while taking his phone out. Monroe didn't even notice it, he just left the apartment.

"Monroe's coming out, Catherine, he's got a gun but he's also got a head wound! Be careful!"

The CSIs looked surprised at Nick.

"They're down there?" Sara said relieved.

Nick nodded. "He's not going anywhere." He smiled and touched Greg's arm caring. "Are you guys alright?"

All four of them nodded.

"You're quite attentive, Nick, you know that? I wasn't sure you'll get what I was trying to say on the phone..." Sara smiled while she gave him a hug.

"Yeah, good job, Nick." Ray smiled while patting him on the shoulder.

Greg gave Nick an appreciative smile. "Really, good job, Nick..."

* * *

><p>Catherine greeted her colleagues with big hugs. "I'm so glad you're all okay!" She had tears in her eyes she didn't want to conceal.<p>

They all smiled at her.

"Thanks to Nick," Ray said, walking towards Brass.

"I'm actually glad you didn't do as I told, Nicky. But that doesn't mean you get a free pass every time now, okay?" Catherine joked.

"Nah, don't worry 'bout that, Catherine..." Nick said laughing.

"So it's finally over... Dunbrook will rott in jail, James is dead, Monroe arrested..." Catherine didn't know what to say. She was overwhelmed right now. She quickly recollected herself and said, "You two should take some time off now. Visit your families, get your minds off of this. It's been rough months, we all could need some time off right now, but I think it's only fair for you and Greg to be the first."

"That's actually not a bad idea, but first we all need to celebrate." Nick smiled at them.

"Great idea! Nick's buying, guys!" Greg said jokingly while patting Nick on the shoulder.

Both of them hoped that they could leave all the troubles these last months caused behind and that their friendship came out stronger from all of the arguments they had.

And right now it sure looked like it did.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys!

What did you think of the story? I hope you enjoyed it :) Please leave a review to let me know what you liked/disliked about it!

So that's it. The story arch is over, but it won't be the last thing you've read from me :)

**THANK YOU** for reading and hopefully loving my stories. Big Love,

pikapikatchu


End file.
